It Takes a Theif
by Fanus Obscurus
Summary: Up and coming Constable Fox has been transferred after a massive blunder on her first major assignment, to a new, top secret division of Interpol. It is completely of off the records, it is on no books, it exists for one reason: to fight a fire with fire, answer a question with a question, for it takes a thief to catch a thief.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So, I'm pretty sure if I have anyone that reads all my works, you''l see a pattern. Start something, vanish, come back with new ideas. Sorry, but I have truly fickle muse. Plus, if I write something down for a bit, I can at least come back to it later when the idea strikes me. So, what is this about? Well, a few days ago, I was browsing through the Sly Cooper section of when an idea struck me. A common idea in many stories is Carmelita coming to terms with whether or not Sly (and by extent, his lineage) are truly criminals. What if she hadn't been the only one to think that, and it had been acted upon? So, without further adue, ladies, gentlemen, and whatever else may be reading this I present to you my latest story. (And yes, I know I stole the title from a 60's TV show). (Note, some liberties are taken with items, for a bit more flare).

It Takes a Thief

Ch1 A Moonlight Run

Inspector Barkley was in a nearly berserk rage. He was thinking of retiring soon, so he was preparing the current hands for the changing of the guard. He had personally selected the promising (until now) young Constable Fox to see her worth. He had been skeptical of her Academy scores, think favoritism played heavily in for the daughter of one of Interpol's finest. So he had given her a simple job that no one could foul up. He was wrong.

He had assigned her as extra security detail to the Parisian Opera House to help guard the Diva Diamond, a necklace containing ten flawless five carat pink diamonds (AN: After some research, this necklace would clock in at 108 million, diamonds alone), currently in possession of one Pachyderma Tuskaninny. The building dated back to the 1700's so security was understandably not up to par. It was only recently that a major overhaul was being done to bring security up to par. Until then, they had relied on massive guard staffs. But tonight, they needed something special, so Barkley had been forced to send one of his own.

According to her she had found a raccoon on the roof of the building, summoned the guards, and apprehended him. All well and good. She then proceeded to lock him in a closet to find another Interpol officer, namely me, as he was in attendance of the performance. That, in Barkley's opinion, was where thing began to go FUBAR. Every light in the opera house blinked out, and when they came back on, the necklace had vanished, and he had to deal with a frantic eight-hundred kilo opera singer. He was currently in the process of chewing out everything, bringing the young constable to tears, when the lights went out again, coupled by a muffled scream. When they came back on, in between the Inspector and the Constable was a weasel, suspended by his legs from the ceiling by a length of rope, with a bag over his head. Constable Fox ripped the bag off of his head, revealing the stage manager, Peirre, with the necklace around his neck.

"Nice to see that Interpol's finest have bagged another one!" The shout had echoed down from the ceiling, revealing a raccoon in blue in the rafters. "Sorry to do your work and run, but I must be getting home, I'm past curfew!" With that witty remark, the coon began to make his escape.

Barkley blinked twice, in sheer shock. Then, his voice came out again as a growl once more. "What am I paying you for woman! AFTER THE HIM!" The shocked Constable shook once, then took off for the roof access after him, leaving Barkley alone with the babbling would be thief, a Diva, and his thoughts.

" _There was no way that was... he's just a street legend!"_

 _POV Change: Carmelita_

" _That blasted ring tailed thief! There's no way I'm letting him ruin my career any further than he already has!"_

Alas, the lovely Vixen would have to catch him first, as she was unarmed due to the wishes of the opera house. The thief had a good minute head start, but it seemed he was cocky, having waited on the rooftop for her. He had propped up on a cane with a golden hook at its end near the edge of the roof, twirling a blue hat on the end of his finger. He turned to face her, with and almost devilish grin on his face.

"Figured he would send you up, hes getting a bit long in the tooth for a rooftop chase."

"Who says its a chase? All I need to do is yell for the guards on patrol of the roof and your cornered."

"Ah, my lovely miss, they would, if they were not so concerned with saving face by helping secure the true thief of this night." That rather flirty line had sent Carmelita back. So, not only was she probably in the doghouse with her boss (minds out of the gutters folks, I ain't done a lemon yet), but she had to grab a flirt.

"So you admit to being a thief then? That's all the evidence I need to take you in, with or without back up."

"I'm a bit more complex than that I'm afraid, and even if you did catch me, it wouldn't last. I have my means."

"You aren't getting off this roof top. The the only way off is thru me, thief."

"One, I refuse to hurt a lady, especially one of such charm, and two, I'm not your ordinary thief." And with that, he did a back flip off the building.

" _Damn it, a suicidal nut!"_ Carmelita raced to the edge of the building. He could survive, the roof was low here, only twenty feet up. But instead of finding a coon sprawled out on the ground, she found him racing across the power lines at breakneck speed. It should be impossible, a normal person couldn't keep their feet from slipping, but this guy was doing it. Most would have given up the chase, but, Ms. Fox was no ordinary cop. Her father had taught her a few... oddities when she was younger that he said he had developed when he was doing field work. Without a second thought, she took a running leap off the building.

 _POV Change: Sly_

Sly figured he would have had a good chase across the roof tops of Paris that night, but there hadn't been enough buildings near the opera house for the cop to keep up. A shame to, she seemed like such pleasant company to, he'd even let himself get caught just to try and learn some more about her. He could have sworn he knew her from somewhere. It was then that he felt extra vibrations on the wire. His head darted back, and to his shock, the young constable was charging up the lines after him.

" _This... bears some looking into..."_ Reaching up to his mask, he hit a small switch. The lenses on his Binocucom mask sprang to life with the desired task, recording sound and visuals, as well as hooking him up to Bentley.

" _Bentley, you on the line? I got something that needs solving fast!"_

" _Sly! Where the heck are you! You know I hate it when you turn the BlueForce trackers off on your night walks! Never mind its back u- why are you running for your life down the main line form the... oh no... no no no... Sly you didn't grab the Diva Diamond, did you?"_ The panic was clear on the other end, as this hadn't been in the plans... for tonight, at least.

" _No Bentley, long storry, tell you two about it latter. Lets just say we may have a bit of company."_ With that, Sly turned his head around to show Bentley the Constable, who, much to his surprise, was beginning to gain ground on him.

" _Is she... no way, this can't be Sly, no ones that good without training... unless..."_

" _That was my though too Bentley. Grab a pic of her face, run it thru the archives, I want to know if that's who I think that is. I'll try and loose her in the sprawl. I'll keep the recorder up to."_

" _Don't get to reckless Sly. We still have some more planning to do."_

" _Yeah yeah, I know, we got that job in Bombay coming up. I'll try and make this quick mom."_

" _Just don't get caught. It would cause a few raised eyebrows."_ With that, Bentley cut the line, leaving Sly to plot.

" _Time for some fun, lets see if she's really who I think she is."_

 _POV Change: Third person_

It was a long chase. Sly lead Carmelita along the roofs of Paris and through it's back alleys for over two hours, neither one truly tiring, sustained by adrenaline. No matter what Sly tried to do to, she stayed on his tail, following hi move for move, even trying a few shortcuts he hadn't yet found. Carmelita, however, couldn't close the gap, as each time she would get closer, Sly would make a sudden leap to another roof in the complete opposite direction, letting Carmelita's momentum carry her further than she wished. Eventually the chase came to a close, but thru no action of the two parties. Sly had leaped over a section of elevated rails, with Carmelita in hot pursuit, when a tram came barreling down the lines. It only delayed Carmelita's jump by a few seconds, but by that time Sly had vanished into the night, leaving her alone on the rooftops, cursing the ring tailed thief, he scream echoing thru the night.

"DAMN YOU YOU RINGTAILED BASTARD!"

Meanwhile, Sly had hidden himself on the roof of another nearby building, leaning against an rooftop AC unit. His shirt and fur were soaked thru with sweat, he hadn't had a hard run like that in months, usually he could loose any pursuers, but she was following him almost move for move. She was perfectly executing Cooper techniques, most likely without realizing it. And that kept bringing hos mind back to a place it hadn't went to in ages.

 _POV Change: Barkley_

It was the next morning, after the fiasco of last night. Madam Tuskaninny had finally left him alone after two hours of agony. If he ever had another assignment involving opera houses, he was giving it to the poor fools on the shitlist. Let them suffer. Which brought him to his latest berserk point: sitting in his office tearing this young upstart a new one.

"So you are telling my, _Constable_ Fox", her rank coming out with even lower a growl," that when you arrived on the roof, you were lead on a _two hour_ chase through Paris without ever catching the bastard! Then, somehow, he manages to suddenly vanish onto thin air after you only lost sight of him for a few seconds! And, to top it all off your report claims he was performing acts of acrobatic and gymnastic skill that would put Olympic athletes of most species to shame, including, but not limited to 'running across power lines at speeds of nearly 30 miles per hour, mid air acrobatic corrections, and incredible agility on level ground."" Barkley's already furious voice suddenly became even more infused with rage. **"MS. FOX** _ **,**_ **DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A DAMN FOOL! THIS ENTIRE REPORT IS SUCH A WORK OF FICTION THAT I EXPECT TO LOOK OUT MY WINDOW FOR A CHINESE DRAGON TO FLY BY AFTER READING IT! YOU FAILED TO CATCH A MAN, AND YOUR SENSE OF PRIDE, NO DOUBT BACK BY PAST FAVORATISM, LEAD YOU TO FABRICATE A REPORT OF SOME SUPER THEIF!"** It was hear that Barkley went off into a mad tangent about urban legends.

Carmelita was shocked, not just by her boss's tone of voice, but the seething hate pouring from it. She had failed, yes, but that was no grounds for this. As she was about to launch into a mad tirade back at him, a loud knock was heard at the door.

" **GO THE HELL AWAY!"**

"I'm sorry, sir," came the sensual voice from outside as the door opened, " but I am here on the direct orders of the head of Interpol." They both turned to face the door, revealing a raccoon in a blue formal suit, with a briefcase in hand. "I am hear at his request for a immediate transfer of Ms. Fox here to a special investigative force, at the rank of Inspector." Both Barkley and Carmelita were taken aback, Carmelita at the sudden transfer after her blunder, Barkley more so than her.

" **JUST WHO THE HELL ARE YOU! AFTER THIS WOMANS BLUNDERS AND UTERLY FANTASTICAL REPORT I AM HAVING HER BUSTED DOWN TO THE ACADEMY! WHAT IN GOD'S MANE DO YOU WANT THIS MONUMENTAL SCREW UP FOR!"**

"That, Mr. Barkley is quite enough. Indeed, even if I felt like informing you of my reasons, it is so far above your pay grade that you do not wish to pry." At that, he held out his badge, only to Barkley's face. Carmelita could visually see him turn whiter under his fur.

"Now then, if that is settled, Ms. Fox," the raccoon said, casually tossing her a new badge and a envelope, "there is what I can give you here. Inside are the instructions to you new workplace, you'll find most of the paperwork there. Oh, and do be discreet about getting there, we don't like to advertise, co leave the corvette at home. A taxi perhaps, to the first address, would be advised." As he turned to leave, he casually glanced over his shoulder and remarked, "By the way, he no longer has any authority over you after this transfer. Feel free to slug him."

As he exited the room, a loud thud could be heard.

 _Five hours latter_

It was nearly lunch when Carmelita arrived at the last address on her new orders. She was rather curious as to why she had arrived at a seemingly dilapidated old hotel on the outskirts of Paris. The building looked to be in perfect condition, despite the complete lack of vehicles outside. Perhaps the rail traffic on the old lines behind it had put it out of business with the noise? Either way, she went thru the side entrance of the hotel as the papers asked of her. Inside, it seemed her suspicions were confirmed about the hotel being in perfect condition. Indeed, it looked almost like she had stepped into the roaring twenties of the US. Everything was in amazing condition, save for on thing: all the windows were one way glass, letting no one see into the building, or any light out. Someone was maintaining heavy security here, but why? The files had said nothing about what division she was now in, nor why here transfer had come from the Director himself. Nonetheless, she continued thru the hotel, till she found the room the directions had given: the penthouse suite on the fifth floor. Her paranoia kicked in as for the entire trip she saw no other people. As she opened the door, she finally heard a voice, familiar but not easy to place.

"Ah, your here! Please, come into the living room, we have a bit to discuss."

Following the voice, she entered the room. The first thing she noticed was the spectacular view of the French countryside, unobstructed by anything for miles. The second was a figure sitting in a chair, facing away from her.

"Carmelita Montoya Fox, age 19, third generation Interpol officer, daughter of the legendary Gillermo Fox and Alta Adonia. Top of you class at Sleuth Academy, graduation class of '01 from Interpol Academy, top of your class as well, on the force for approximately five weeks, with a perfect record until last night. Your records show you to be an extraordinarily gifted young woman, with skill far beyond your years if your academy records are anything to go by. But, I must say this isn't our first meeting. Nor was our last one such, but it had been awhile," at this the chair turned, revealing the face of the man she had chased across Paris last night, "Carmel."

AN: And there we have it folks, the first chapter and the first cliffhanger! Sorry to leave you with such a big dropp off point, but I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. Hope to see ya soon!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So, soon school will be over for the summer. This means for most that us nerds can come out and play with impunity, for a little while. For me, I'm graduating. Ironically, I'll probably have LESS free time to write from here on, even without a job. But enough about that. Time to see just how Sly knows Carm before they ever met.

It Takes a Thief

Ch2 A Walk Thru Locked and Dusty Doors

Carmelita's heart and mind were doing circles, emotion and reason battling one another. Only one person had ever called her Carmel, outside of her family. But it couldn't be. She SAW the casket. She knew he was dead.

"Impossible... Sly... your... your... They said you... the fire-"

Sly leaned further back in his chair, relaxing for what would probably be a scream filled conversation. "That you can thank your father for. He helped arrange that story. He and Dad were good friends from there time as co-workers, they had this planned in advance should something happen to either one of them."

"Sly, none of this makes sense! Why! Why were you there last night! Why are you here! Why am I here!"

"That, my dearest vixen is a very long story. Pull up a chair, grab a mug, I've got a coffee pot back here.

Your gonna need it. Especially the chair." Carm sat down in a comfortable chair in front of the desk Sly sat behind, and poured herself a mug. When she had taken a drink and sat it down he began.

"Its best for me to start in the beginning, and explain your first question, why was I there, why was I claiming to be a thief? Simple enough answer, I'm keeping the family business alive and well."

Carm's first reaction was to reach for her shock baton and level it at Sly, an angry growl on her lips.

"Then why the hell are you her in an Interpol Division? Why the hell haven't they put you behind bars? How in God's name are you-"

"Being the head of the branch has its perks you know."

That knocked the wind out of her sails. Interpol was employing a thief?! But wait... he had said her father had-

"To elaborate, I come from a... rather long and, formerly well documented lineage. My family has its root in the days of the Pharaohs, before the days of the Book of Exodus, or roughly 3000 BC. We've had our fingers all over the globe in all sorts of ages, following call of the thief. In the ancient Mediterranean we stole from prince and king alike. In medieval Europe we laid the foundations of legends. In feudal Japan my ancestors helped to create the ninja. The list goes on. But we all shared a common theme. We were not ordinary thieves."

Carm's black and white morality went off at that statement. "Of course they were! A thief is a thief is a thief! Your all the same, crushers of dreams and hopes!"

"Not us, my dear. We did not rob the common masses, no, we were... risk takers, adrenaline junkies. Why steal from the poor man and earn no honor, when you could take from those who had crushed their dreams, to give hope to the hopeless?"

"You think I'm buying this Robin Hood nonsense?"

"You should, his name was Robin Cooper after all." That one made Carm groan. "We were master thieves. It was in Eygpt where our story truly began. There was no thief that could match us. Kings and princes feared my early ancestor Slytunkhamen. Nobles petitioned to the Pharaoh of Egypt to use his armies to find this thief, and offer the demon's soul to the gods o cleanse the land of his taint. But the Pharaoh saw fear in their eyes, fear of him removing their ill gotten possessions, stolen from those that they oppressed. The Pharaoh said he would indeed remove their taint and sent a messenger to where Slytunkhamen dwelt. He told him to say that the Pharaoh of Cairo wished to know this thief, whose name made god kings quiver where armies could not. He wished to offer him what no one else could. A true reason. Slytunkhamen considered the messengers words, and traveled with him to Cairo. It was there that the Pact was made."

"Enough nonsense! Get to the point!"

"I'm telling it as fast as I can, 5,000 years is a bit much to summarize! The Pact was a contract, a Letter of Marque, an agreement between just men, between law and criminal. They would aid the Coopers in their endevours, and help cover up the un endorsed ones as well." Carm began to voice here ire again, but Sly raised his hand once more to stop her. "They would aid us in secret, give us the means to track our quarries. In return, we would help bring to justice those that had broken just laws. In a way we were bounty hunters. We would acquire proof of crimes no others could, and give the those with whom the pact was made. It was recorded inside my family heirloom, a book containing the legacies and all the techniques that has been passed down, father to first born child, for millennium. Techniques arcane, occult, mechanical, technical, anything to aid the next heir."

"That still doesn't explain why your here!"

"My great-great grandfather, Thadeus Cooper, and his son, Otto Van Cooper, were instrumental in founding Interpol. Oh, sure, they came into being based on the ideas of others, but they were aided by my family from the beginning. Though Thadeus was to old for fieldwork, he created the analytic departments most basic of practices, and Otto made the designs for some of your oldest gadgets, such as that stun baton in your hand right now. The pact was forged into the very fabric of Interpol, and its oldest Black Ops division was formed with its founding: the Special Acquisitions Department. For the last few generations, my family has helped tackle some of Interpol's biggest game, from kingpins to spy rings."

"That's all well and good if I were to believe you, but where does my father come into all of this? You said he helped arrange this!"

"Thats where we take a more familiar topic. Over the years, some of Interpol's best have been assigned to the SAD for its public face. Your father, until eight years ago, was that face. He and my father were very good friends from day one, and why you and I met as children when they would visit one another. Such simple days, when we were children, playing with one another, the best of friends, but with subtler motives. Those skills your father taught you as a child, that you used last night to chase me down? My father taught him that, and told him to teach you those skills, to prepare us for the future. By their friendship, all our lives were endangered. You can't remember it can you? That night eight years ago, when the so called fire happened? Ever wonder how much of a coincidence your father was paralyzed from the waist down after that night? No, of course not, the trauma of it made your mind lock those memories away. Think back. It was raining that night. You and your parents were coming over, to celebrate my eight birthday. Your father stepped out of the car, saw the door smashed down, and parked the car down the road told you to stay inside. He came closer, heard the screams and saw the nightmare inside. My mother's mutilated corpse, screamingly feasted upon by a cannibalistic croc, an oversized mutt trashing the building, a seemingly remorseful panda in the corner, an obese frog trying to crack a safe. Watching it all was a figure in the shadows, with my fathers dismembered corpse in front of him. But he could see what they couldn't little old me hidden away in the closet. Or so he thought. They had not touched me, they wanted to break me. They found your father, they broke him, snapped his spine and left him to die. They stole the family book, all our deeds and vanished into the night, setting fire to the building, seeking to erase all that had transpired. But your father saved me. He dragged himself thru the flames to get me out of the building, took me to your car and whisked me off into the night, with me babbling about what I had seen. Three days latter, they had a closed casket funeral, they told you it was a tragic fire, that my entire family had died in a gas explosion. All to cover the tracks. Your father had taken a bullet to his spine, a miracle he lived, wasn't it? And so I was left in an orphange, it would have been to risky to leave me in anyone else hands, there I could vanish unnoticed. Tabs were kept on me as I grew older, waiting for me to come of an age where I could be recruited into the SAD. Last year, I found the truth out fro your father. He came and offered me the job. I took it without pause, but asked to bring my two closest friends with me. Bentley, a turtle who can access any device in the world and make a device to reach it, and Murray, the best getaway driver a man could ask for. They entered into this with me, a family forged of seven years without one, brothers in sweat and blood. So that explains half my story."

Carmelita hadn't heard the end. When she found out what had happened to him, she began to sob and wail. Sly, by fault of being born, had been subjected to something straight out of the minds of Hitchcock's nightmares. And she too had lived with the results of that night, a father forever unable to walk again. She had born the mental scars of Sly's past without ever knowing it. But there was just one thing she had left to ask him.

"Why me? Why seek me out to take my fathers place? To give me a chance for the revenge you seek as well?"

"No. I picked you not for so petty a reason. In need someone that can keep up with me. In your childhood you were taught the basics of my family. You can see them to, can't you, the sparkles of light all around, that point to you where you can do feats impossible? That is in you, the skills of a Master thief. I sought you to give you a chance to make a true difference. In the normal service, you would have been merely a tool for an agenda f your bosses, men that would claim it was all their own. Here, you would be able to give it your all, with no one to claim your work was theirs. We are the real long arm of the law, clad in the mask of a thief. I'll give you the time you need to think it over, but you don't have long. In a week I'm going to try and retrieve a the Firestone of India. Do what you need to prepare yourself. But know this Carmel. In this Division, there are things that can never be mentioned. Not only do we do things outside the law, but there are things we have found that defy common logic. Magic, creatures from fiction, extinct species, we've seen many a thing in my family. We attract the weird."

Carmelita was needless to say in turmoil. Could she really do this, betray the views her father had taught her? But hadn't he been one to aid them as well? She needed to see this for herself, and seek her answers to her questions latter. So she looked up from her now cold coffee and said something she hadn't said in years.

"What have you got me into now Ringtail?"

Sly nearly broke down at their old greeting being said again, and replied in kind with tears in his eyes.

"Just the same old story Carmel."

AN: And so, the framework for my story has been laid out before you. Throw a few things at it and lets see if it holds up, shall we?


End file.
